[JURIST] US President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a memorandum [text] directing the heads of government agencies to conduct a review of the tax delinquency status of all companies that compete for federal contracts. Citing a need to protect taxpayer money and a total unpaid tax figure in excess of
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[JURIST] A Vietnamese court on Wednesday convicted four democracy activists of subversion. After a one-day trial, prominent human rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh [JURIST news archive] was sentenced to five years [BBC report] in prison. Le Thang Long also received a five-year sentence, Nguyen Tien Trung was sentenced to seven
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[JURIST] The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) [official website] on Tuesday dismissed [judgment, DOC; in French] a suit against Italy by Palestinian immigrants alleging illegal expulsion from the country. In a statement [press release] explaining its decision, the court questioned the existence of at least 34 of the 84
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[JURIST] UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown [official profile] announced [statement] the country's plans for enhanced airport security measures and anti-terrorism efforts to the House of Commons [official website] on Wednesday. The new security provisions include increasing intelligence information-sharing with foreign agencies and extending the Home Office Watchlist to include both
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[JURIST] Spokesperson for the First People of Kalahari (FPK) [Right Livelihood backgrounder] Roy Sesana announced [AllAfrica report] Tuesday that his organization plans to take its land dispute case against the Botswana government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website, JURIST news archive]. The FPK is an advocacy group
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[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Wednesday ruled [opinion, PDF] in South Carolina v. North Carolina [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that the Catawba River Water Supply Project (CRWSP), and Duke Energy Carolinas may intervene in the water dispute between the two states, but that
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[JURIST] Kenya's Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) decided Tuesday not to grant women equal marriage rights to men in the new constitution. References to civil society, religious groups, and rights of gays were also omitted [Daily Nation report] as the PSC reviewed recommendations from the Committee of Experts and decided which
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[JURIST] The federal trial of Aafia Siddiqui [JURIST news archive], a Pakistani woman with alleged ties to al Qaeda, began Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website]. Siddiqui is charged [complaint, PDF] with assault and the attempted murder of a US officer
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[JURIST] UK-based human rights group Reprieve [advocacy website] issued a statement [text] Tuesday suggesting that the Obama administration has suppressed information relating to the investigation of three 2006 Guantanamo Bay suicides [JURIST report] and urging further inquiries. The statement comes in response to an article [text] for an upcoming issue
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[JURIST] The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced [press release] on Tuesday that 22 individuals were indicted [materials] for violating federal bribery laws in an effort to obtain foreign business contracts. An undercover operation conducted by the FBI found violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) [text],
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